FBI DIRECTOR COMEY'S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT FBI HAS NOT CHANGED MIND ON EMAIL DECISION IS GOOD FOR HILLARY.

FBI  Director  Comey's new announcement Sunday afternoon that the FBI has not changed its mind as far as the decision  made in July not to pursue criminal charges regarding her emails bodes well for Hillary, and her supporters,

Comey's decision last Friday announcing a new probe of Hillary's emails after investigators apparently found emails potentially linked to Clinton's server on Anthony Weiners computer has, unfortunately, already done damage to the Clinton campaign. With this latest announcement, Clinton should breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now.

Jeff Brown
Editor/Publisher
Purple Walrus Press.

AMERICA MUST DECIDE WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY WE WANT TO BE: PWP W/ HER: GET OUT THE VOTE YPSLANTI.

As we all know, this is one hugely important election. Not only is the nation selecting a president, but  also its national identity. We are potentially witnessing a frightening shift in America's political identity if Trump is (gulp) elected as president. Quite frankly, as a Hillary supporter, I'm very concerned about the fact that the race has tightened  here in Michigan.

 "What kind of country do we want to be?" Hillary asked this very question last night in Cleveland after being introduced by Beyonce at a rally at Cleveland State University. Never in recent memory has America asked itself such a momentous and relevant question.

Does America want to be a divisive, fear mongering, bigoted and hateful country? Or does America want to be a unifying, accepting, and progressive country? Hopefully, the majority of Americans will vote on the side  of unity and acceptance. In other other words, hopefully, Hillary Clinton will become president of the United States. We will find out Tuesday.

Jeff Brown
Editor/Publisher
Purple Walrus Press.

FBI DIRECTOR COMEY PROBE ANNOUNCEMENT REMINISCENT OF HOOVER ERA TACTICS

True story.. Once upon a time there was a corrupt, despicable, mean old and nasty FBI director named J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was director of the FBI from 1924 until 1972. In the late 1950's Hoover created a corrupt, mean, ugly, and nasty "dirty tricks" program called COINTELPRO, which stood for counter intelligence program. Tragically, the goal of COINTELPRO was to bring down left of center political organizations in America. COINTEL essentially directed covert, illegal projects focused on tearing down, discrediting and disrupting political organizations in this country.  Not good.

Enter James Comey. Last Friday current FBI Director Comey announced that the FBI would be probing a new batch of emails found on Anthony Weiner's computer that are potentially tied to Hillary Clinton. The thing is the FBI is not supposed to release statements to the public that may be influential  politically. Simply put, The FBI is not supposed to have a political agenda that may influence American voters.

So why would FBI director Comey suddenly release information stating that emails that are potentially linked to Hillary Clinton are being probed? Was this announcement an deliberate act aimed at bringing down the Clinton campaign? The bottom line is that the damage has been done. Comey has planted a seed of doubt regarding Hillary Clinton in the minds of, I imagine, many undecided voters. The fact that Comey announced this probe mere days before the election is undemocratic and dangerous.

Are we witnessing the frightening re-emergence of Hoover era FBI tactics? I certainly hope not. Time will tell.

Jeff Brown
Editor/Publisher
Purple Walrus Press.

EMU STUDENTS HOLD DEMONSTRATION PROTESTING RACIST GRAFFITI ON CAMPUS

As of 1:00 Wednesday afternoon roughly 75 to 100 Eastern Michigan University students are holding a rally protesting the latest act of bigoted, racist graffiti that was found written on a campus building Monday.

Several student protesters spoke at the rally calling for unity and expressing dismay, outrage, and anger at the fact that more racist graffiti has shown up on the Ypsilanti campus.

The atmosphere became tense when a student wearing a "Make America Great Again" ball cap was called out by a protester who had spoken earlier at the rally. The protester pointedly asked the student wearing the ball cap why he was at the rally. One protester defended the student with the ball cap stating basically that the student was not trying to stir up or condemn demonstrators.

I spoke to a EMU student attending the rally named Gabrielle. She did not want to disclose her last name. I am paraphrasing her comments. Gabrielle is a senior from Ohio. Gabrielle stated that she is exhausted by the recent incidences of racist graffiti on campus lately. She also said that as an African American she is aware of the differences everyday.

Gabrielle told me she does have faith that good will happen eventually, and that she prays that protests and on campus diversity promoting conferences will attract and educate more EMU students. Gabrielle said that she has learned a lot about other cultures from attending diversity conferences, but was clear that she wants more students to attend. Gabrielle also told me that she appreciates that Eastern Michigan University encourages diversity events and conferences.

Students at EMU have every right to be angry. I was very impressed with today's rally and equally impressed with student speakers participating in the demonstration who addressed those in attendance.

Jeff Brown
Editor/Publisher
Purple Walrus Press.

Student protest EMU Wednesday. Photo Purple Walrus Press.

CITY OF YPSILANTI :WHO DECIDES WHICH RESIDENTIAL TREES COME DOWN?

Several weeks ago I came home to my Normal Park Neighborhood house to find that several trees on our pretty tree lined street were marked with a big scarlet letter. The marking on the trees signify that the trees are to be cut down. Two of the these red marked trees happened to be in our front yard. Admittedly, one of these trees did look a bit ill, but the other one, a big giant maple tree, a tree that had been a favorite of my son and daughter since they were toddlers, looked perfectly healthy.Yet, that healthy looking tree was marked with the dreaded scarlet letter also.

Sure enough, a week or two later the trees were cut down. Naturally, after the two trees were cut down I went over to the two stumps to inspect them. As you look at our house, the stump on the left does look a little rotten. However, the stump on the right looks perfectly healthy to me, at least as healthy as a tree stump can possibly look. Now, I'm no tree expert, but I did, however, interview a tree expert about her opinion on the two stumps and whether she thought both trees needed to be cut down.

I should mention that our tree expert, Carolyn Leadley, is my sister in law who is an urban farmer in the city of Detroit. Carolyn has an undergrad degree in plant ecology from the University of Michigan, and a grad certificate in urban farming from Michigan State University.

I asked Carolyn to look at our two tree stumps in the front yard and give her opinion as whether the trees needed to be cut down. Carolyn said the one stump did look diseased, rotten and showed signs of decay, possibly from ants. She thought it was time for that tree to come down. However, she thought that the other tree looked perfectly healthy, and trimming the branches would have been more appropriate, and less costly.

I recently reached out to the Ypsilanti Dept of Public Works, specifically Stan Kirton who is the Director of Public Works. In an email I asked Stan how the decision process works and who makes the decisions regarding which residential trees should be cut down. I also asked what credentials they had. As of yet, he has not responded to me.

It appears that many residents of Ypsilanti are also curious as to how decisions are made regarding our residential trees. A response from the Ypsilanti Dept of Public Works would be greatly appreciated.

Jeff Brown
Editor/Publisher
Purple Walrus Press.

The two tree stumps in our front yard. Photo Purple Walrus Press.